middling

American  

[mid-ling] / ˈmɪd lɪŋ /

adjective

1. medium, moderate, or average in size, quantity, or quality.

   The returns on such a large investment may be only middling.

2. mediocre; ordinary; commonplace; pedestrian.

   The restaurant's entrées are no better than middling.

3. Older Use.  in fairly good health.

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adverb

1. moderately; fairly.

noun

1. middlings, any of various products or commodities of intermediate quality, grade, size, etc., as the coarser particles of ground wheat mingled with bran.

2. Also called middling meat.  Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S.  Often middlings salt pork or smoked side meat.

middling British  

/ ˈmɪdlɪŋ /

adjective

1. mediocre in quality, size, etc; neither good nor bad, esp in health (often in the phrase fair to middling )

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adverb

1. informal  moderately

   middling well

middling Idioms  

1. see fair to middling.

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Other Word Forms

• middlingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of middling

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English (north) medlinge (present participle) “coming between, middle”; mid ¹, -ling ²

Example Sentences

“He’d always say, ‘Take out Berkshire’s top five investments and its returns are pretty middling,’ ” says Montgomery, a lesson to the group that success can come from just a few winning moves.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Chiefs’ offense has shown signs of its explosive potential, but they own a middling 5-4 record.

From The Wall Street Journal

Britain's Best Home Cook on BBC One, for instance, achieved relatively middling ratings despite the combined star power of Winkleman and Mary Berry.

From BBC

Many companies have followed Procter & Gamble’s playbook of shedding middling brands and focusing on the biggest, most valuable franchises.

From The Wall Street Journal

But even though the Chiefs have a middling 5-4 record after this latest defeat, they might not be losing sleep over this loss.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• mediocre
• passable
• run-of-the-mill
• so-so